Isaac Bernheim (1848-1945) as a young peddler.

Peddlers and the American West

By the mid-nineteenth century the American Jewish population was about fifty thousand, and expanded threefold over the next decade. The American frontier presented career opportunities for Jewish immigrants, most of whom came from Central Europe. Without government restrictions or onerous guild requirements that they faced in Europe, they became salesmen. The peddler with a pack on his back brought manufactured goods from the eastern cities to families living in scattered communities in the central and western parts of the country. Isaac Bernheim (1848-1945) started out as one of these peddlers after he emigrated from Germany in 1865 with four dollars. After the death of his horse, he gave up peddling and settled in Kentucky, where he worked as a bookkeeper, and then later opened his own liquor sales company and distillery. After he found success in business, he became a philanthropist. His best known project was establishing the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest outside of Louisville, but he was also active with several causes in the Jewish community and donated money to help establish the first Hebrew Union College library.